Tales from Falsidehill

The hay fever blues

James is reminiscing with his old Warren G album downstairs (‘The rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treble’) so I thought I’d take the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my faithful old blog. It’s been a while. You may have wondered if I’m still alive. Well, I am indeed alive, but the way my hay fever has hit me over the past few weeks, sometimes I feel a bit dead.

I often underestimate the effect hay fever has on my life, but it’s like a never-ending cold that just exhausts me and brings my mood down. It’s been so bad this year that I’ve even started taking antihistamine tablets again after a couple of years without them. But now I remember why I stopped taking them; they don’t work and they’re damn expensive.

My glorious new ‘Northern Exposure 28 disc DVD box set’ has accompanied me in some of my darkest hay-fever-filled hours. I managed to get through 32 episodes in six days, which sounds a bit overindulgent but I feel no shame. I feel quite lucky to be able to watch that many episodes of a TV show in a short space of time without feeling remotely bored. And I still have 78 episodes to go!

Randomness:

Look at this stunning picture James took of my dad on Father’s Day. And here’s another nice photo from that day:

Craig is coming back to Hollyoaks for his sunset ending with John Paul! I am beyond excited!

I dropped a fire extinguisher on my foot weeks ago and it still hurts.

Tribal Wives on BB2 is so inspiring that I’m tempted to go and live with a tribe in the jungle. I’m just not sure where I would plug in my hair straighteners.

Season 2 of Dexter starts this Sunday!! We usually record it and watch it on a Saturday whilst eating lunch. (Programmes about serial killers are best watched in daylight, and the act of eating is known to reduce anxiety.)

Uphill struggle

James dragged me out for a cycle yesterday. I wanted to go but I moaned and complained a lot beforehand because I didn’t think I was capable of getting up all the many steep hills around here. It really didn’t help when James showed me this graph of the actual changes in elevation that lay ahead of us:

I was right to be worried about the hills; they were serious hard work. But uphill pain became exhilaration as we sped downhill at 30mph. We cycled for almost nine miles, along some roads we’ve never been on before and the scenery was truly spectacular (as was the weather)! It was really great fun and I can’t wait to do it again!

50 years young

It was my mum’s 50th birthday last Thursday! We all went for a curry at Khushi’s which was lovely, and then we made the compulsory visit to Starbucks for coffee afterwards (my mum is obsessed with Starbucks). I was the designated driver for the first time ever (and James certainly made the most of that!). Here are some photos James took:

Geocaching & burgers

Yesterday we walked to Hareheugh Craigs. Last time we went there, we found the perfect place to hide a Geocache, and so we finally got around to putting it there. It’s quite exciting to think that other people might find it!

When we got home, we had a well-earned barbecue. It was truly blissful, eating burgers and relaxing in our garden. Jodie was so tired, she fell asleep in the sun. We also had to have a nap after dinner as we were so (delightfully) exhausted!

A poem

Cathedral City Cheddar Cheese

I feel it needs to be confessed
That when I was a bit depressed
I did a bit of comfort eating
And now my bra hooks are not meeting
My bum has gotten so much bigger
And I’ve lost my size 12 figure
My BMI is twenty-eight
Yes, I have put on some weight
I only used to have one chin
But now it seems to have a twin
And what was once a nice flat belly
Now wobbles like a bowl of jelly
Cathedral City cheddar cheese
Is going to give me heart disease
And if my weight does not decrease
I fear I will become obese
I hope I don’t get too much fatter
But what’s white pudding without batter?